photo credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America

There may be a price to pay for intransigence.  Because of a deliberate attempt at self-sabotage by congressional republicans, an inability of Speaker Boehner to reign in tea party freshmen, and the likelihood of a substantial tax increase on more than 160 million Americans–something conservatives would normally consider anathema–they find themselves on the wrong end of poll numbers.

Given the need to bolster the economy, something only the President has seemed willing to do so far, Obama has made significant strides with the public on the country’s most pressing issues:

Obama’s gains have come at the expense of the Republicans in Congress and the GOP in general. By a 50% to 31% margin, people questioned say they have more confidence in the president than in congressional Republicans to handle the major issues facing the country. Obama held a much narrower 44% to 39% margin in March.

And the GOP’s overall favorable rating has dropped to six points, to 43%, since June, while the Democrats’ positive rating remained steady at 55%. “The Democrats do particularly well among middle income Americans, while the Republicans win support only from the top end of the income scale,” adds Holland.

Perhaps the strategy of congressional republicans is to continue its abject stonewalling, lest they risk making the economy better right before 2012 elections.  Politics before country doesn’t sound like a sound, winning strategy to me.  In a divided government, absolutism is the wrong play.   If their intended result was to achieve historically low congressional poll numbers, mission accomplished.

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A portend of things to come?  Jeffrey Toobin weighs in:

In 1964, Republican insurgents seized control of the party. They recognized that their views were not held by a majority of Americans—at least not yet. As Rick Perlstein wrote in “Before the Storm,” his fascinating history of the Barry Goldwater campaign, the Republican Party was taken over by “a little circle of political diehards whose every move was out of step with the times”—which did not bother them much at all. For their moment, they were political missionaries who came to introduce a nation raised on the New Deal to an alternative approach to governing. Goldwater embraced “extremism” in the fond hope that its time, if not his time, would come. Goldwater and his aides didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about “electability.” They didn’t expect to win, and, emphatically, they did not. Lyndon B. Johnson won sixty-one per cent of the popular vote, and carried forty-four states.

Republican zeal to recapture the White House may not be analogous to their attempts to re-brand their party.  It seems many don’t care.  This will be fun to watch.

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With the hyper partisan climate choking the life out of Washington elected officials, Congress’ approval ratings have shrunk to unprecedented depths.  Their ability to conduct the people’s business as diminished significantly as their approval hovers around the nine percent range.  With many American citizens wary of the anemic efforts coming from the Capital No Labels, a bipartisan political organization dedicated to fighting political stagnation, seeks to remedy the problem.

No Labels has devised a simple yet significant 12 point plan to get Washington working again.  Make Congress Work seeks to rejuvenate congressional Washington politics and eliminate gridlock by initiating 12 tenets of governance.  Check out the video below:

The significance of this plan cannot be understated. The lack of cohesive leadership emanating from Washington has done more to dishearten and disenfranchise the average American–many of them already disillusioned with the process.  This is a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. Now is the time for bold leadership– leadership that coalesces around a sound set of principles democrats, republicans, and independents can rally around.

I’ll be featuring each idea espoused in the No Labels plan to get Congress working again.  An effective congress, governed through the will of the people is the key to charting a stronger future.

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It’s one thing to disagree on a particularly divisive issue–it’s entirely something different to engage in haughty, disreputable politics.  Mitt Romney’s shameful display not only reinforced his strained attempts at humanizing his candidacy–it showcased an utter lack of political savvy and genuine compassion.

At an event that was meant to highlight the endorsement of Romney by Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, veteran Bob Garon of Ebson, N.H., asked the presidential candidate, who stopped by his breakfast table, whether he supports the repeal of the New Hampshire same-sex marriage law. A Republican-controlled legislature has moved toward repealing the law, enacted in 2009 when Democrats controlled the legislature.

A vote could come next month. Romney told Garon, who was chowing down on his everyday staple of scrambled eggs and shaved ham at the restaurant Chez Vachon, that he supports a repeal of the same-sex marriage law, prompting an emotional exchange.

“I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman,” Romney said, joining Garon in the diner booth after shaking hands with several other patrons. Garon responded, clarifying that what that meant was that if Romney is elected he would not support any legislation that would change the law so that gay servicemen would get the same benefits as heterosexual couples.

“I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said. “We apparently disagree on that.”

Romney’s problem here is two-fold:  How legitimate is it to ask people to fight and die for a country that tries to disenfranchise them?  Romney may think he shrouds himself in the cloak of the constitution, but he only weakens his hand by subscribing to a distorted reading of that document.  I wonder how the Constitution views polygamy, a practice often associated with his Mormon faith?

Second is the more concerning human element to this story.  While Romney and Mr. Garon disagree on this subject, a prospective candidate for the highest in the land should offer more than just rote babble about constitutional practices.  Why not salute this man for his service to the nation?  Why not ask him about his tour or how he met his partner?  It may seem trite but for a man like Romney, often portrayed as a generic automaton in a Brook Brothers suit, it may have gone a long way in re-tooling his image.

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This video leaves little doubt as to what type of campaign President Obama would wage against republican nominee Newt Gingrich.  It’s brutal tone is only matched by its reality.  No matter how much Newt professes to be the outsider with a spine of steel, his actions and words always belie that.

The president isn’t losing sleep over  Mr. Gingrich, nor should he.

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This is remarkable.

The quote of the day:

It’s unclear whether Cain’s candidacy is just part of his book tour, part of an effort to land a Fox show, or some sort of mere vanity project. But whatever it is, it is not a serious presidential campaign. Cain hasn’t earned the right to be taken seriously, because he hasn’t approached the task of being a presidential candidate with seriousness.

This sums up what Cain is about.  His lack of clarity and seriousness proves he’s all about selling books and increasing awareness for his radio show.  His focus lies with becoming the next Sean Hannity, not the next president.  He should stop wasting everyone’s time and energy and call Roger Ailes today.

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photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan continues to get panned (pizza pun intended) by economists and even conservatives.  On the surface it seems like a blatant hosing of the poor, by shifting the tax burden more heavily upon their shoulders in order to create tax equity.  Cutting beneath the surface, Cain’s plan is simply a nod to campaign-speak– rallying his tea party troops with a dizzying amount of platitudes and talking points.  The idea of eliminating the tax code is a sound one, provided you have a substantive policy to use as its replacement.  Clearly, this is not it.  It’s more of a slogan.

Ezra Klein points out the plan’s potentially damaging effects on a key base of support for the GOP as well:

This plan wouldn’t work. Not as policy and, as I expect Cain will soon find out, not as politics. Moving to an 18 percent consumption tax is, among other things, very bad for older voters, who make up a substantial portion of the Tea Party base.

Jacking up taxes on the poor and the middle class even as you sharply reduce them on the rich and completely eliminate them on overseas income for corporations isn’t popular among anyone in the political system who isn’t specifically paid by the Club for Growth. The 9-9-9 plan is a great slogan. But the more seriously Cain gets taken, the more seriously the plan is going to get taken. And as that happens, it will soon become clear that it’s very poor policy.

Alas, more gimmickry from the only black man in America who hasn’t been brainwashed.  Perhaps a dunk in the tank is in order.

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Two observations about the first GOP Presidential Debate:

Mitt Romney clearly separated himself from the pack of milquetoast contenders vying for the crown.  Romney showed deftness, quiet strength, and a mature yet effective  argumentative style.   The most stark contrast came between he and Herman Cain, token flamethrower in the race.  Cain while charming, cannot be taken seriously as a candidate because of his vacuous knowledge on pertinent issues.  Leadership–especially during these perilous times–is more than quips about moats and alligators.  Cain also showed his ignorance of civil rights law, by insisting Muslims pass a litmus test to prove their patriotism.  Romney responded with a dignified retelling of what America stands for.  As a member of a persecuted religious minority, Romney is more than qualified to counter the rabid bigotry of his GOP counterparts on this issue.  It was a cool, qualifying moment–and their weren’t very many in this debate.

Point two is the performance of Michele Bachmann, whose surprising showing proves she just may have the chops to play on the big stage–even though she shared that stage with a few lightweights (Gingrich, Pawlenty, Santorum, et al).  Bachmann is as intriguing a figure as she is frightening.  Her appeal to the tea party wing as well as her political acumen is her strength.  Ezra thinks it’s her trump card:

Bachmann is a better politician than Palin, a better policy wonk than Palin, and because she’s a better politician and a better policy wonk than Palin, she’s actually able to be a bit more extreme than Palin, as Palin rarely gets specific enough to do such precise ideological positioning. Put simply, Bachmann is the candidate Palin was supposed to be.

Incidentally, I don’t put Palin and Bachmann into competition because they’re the two women in the Republican field. I put them in competition because they’re the two candidates who can plausibly consolidate the tea party wing of the GOP behind them. The only other obvious contender for that crown is Herman Cain, and I’m not ready to take him seriously yet. My hunch right now is that Palin either won’t run or will seriously underperform expectations, and either way, Bachmann will quickly emerge as the acknowledged leader of Tea Party America.

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“I tell it like it is. [Y]ou’ll hear a political reporter go on and say [Hillary Clinton's loss in 2008] had nothing to do with race. But how come she had such a tiny piece of the vote? And you know, it’s a very sad thing. I have a great relationship with the blacks. I’ve always had a great relationship with the blacks. But unfortunately, it seems that, you know, the numbers you cite are very, very frightening numbers,” - Donald Trump on president Obama’s sky-high support among African-Americans.

Thanks to the Dish for this gem.  And I can assure Mr. Trump, he won’t have to worry about counting the number of black folks supporting him.  There won’t be many.

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Uh-oh:

Exit polls showed independents supporting the GOP by a 19 point margin last year at 56-37. Now only 30% of those voters think that the Republican controlled House is moving things in the right direction, compared to 44% who think things were better with the Democrats. Given those numbers it’s not much of a surprise that independents now say they’d vote Democratic for the House by a 42-33 margin if there was an election today, representing a 28 point reversal in a span of just five months.

Overreach tends to result in numbers like these.  Things have a nasty habit of changing quickly in politics.  Let’s see how malleable the Boehner brigade is.  So far, they’ve proven their reluctance to… everything.

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